


Exposed

by Blue_Hood



Series: Not What They Seem [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Souled Vampire(s), Urban Legends, Vampire Bites
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 15:48:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19359997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Hood/pseuds/Blue_Hood
Summary: When you live forever, the past has a way of coming back to bite you.





	1. Five Hours Ago

Clint woke to an alarm sounding from his phone. Hitting the snooze, Tony's voice came through the speaker "We need you! Here! Barton!"

Sitting up, Clint looked at the date and time display "I'm off the clock, Stark. You are contractually obligated to leave me alone."

Supernatural senses caught a muttered "the fuck?" Before Tony's voice returned to normal volume "Look, I'll pay overtime or whatever you want but we need you."

With a groan matching Tony's grunt, Clint said "Send me your coordinates, I'll be there in three minutes or less."

"That's fast, okay, done."

Hanging up, Clint muttered "I'm gonna pay for this." He changed and chugged a quick pint, hoping he could hold himself over


	2. Four Hours Ago

When a changeling told him that the Xavier Mansion had become a school, he raised an eyebrow and waited for the punchline that never came. After she walked away, Clint brushed it off. Now he was regretting that as he was surrounded by beating hearts. Clamping his mouth shut, he mentally screamed "I'll be in the bunker."

A calm British voice responded "Very well," as Clint shadow jumped to the bunker. At least the psychic had dropped the attitude.

The nuclear bunk was dark and secure. Being built to withstand a nuclear war made it indestructible as far as Clint was concerned. He curled up in the corner furthest from the door and tried to calm himself.


	3. Three Hours Ago

Charles linked to Clint once the other man had time to calm down. The telepath had never heard his friend so scared. Phil Coulson's death had led to Barton's fast, which was broken earlier that day when the Avenger fed on adversaries in a fight. He was very afraid of the consequences stemming from his exposure. He did not trust his partner, who attempted to bash his head in then called it strategy, for obvious reasons. Had he been truly human, he'd be dead. Luckily for Dr. Selvig, Agent Romanoff arrived as the good doctor was waking up and thus hadn't had the chance to attempt cerebral recalibration. Clint told Charles he could trust Doctors Stark and Banner, the scientists knew all about keeping secrets.


	4. Two Hours Ago

Following his advice, Charles contacted Tony and Bruce to invite them over. "Where's Clint?" asked Tony.

"I told Agent Romanoff to stay away," was Charles' answer as Logan carried the spy in.

"Where's Clint?" asked Natasha.

"Agent Barton specifically asked you not be invited, Agent Romanoff. Your cerebral recalibration would have killed him had he been human."

"What about Selvig?" asked Bruce.

"As you'll recall, Agent Romanoff was only present for Dr. Selvig's awakening."

The two scientists shot the spy a wary glance, shifting away. Tony turned back to Charles "You still haven't told us where Clint is, and how did he survive Natashalie's recalibration? Is that his mutation?"

"I'm not a mutant and careful how you say that," Clint answered as he stepped out of the shadows. He glanced at Charles as he crossed his arms "She's gonna Index your students, Charlie, you know she is."

Logan snorted "Never heard anyone call the Professor, Charlie."

Clint didn't respond, only stared at Charles "You know I will do whatever it takes to protect my students, Clinton."

Clint's gaze shifted back to the guests, Tony failed to contain the humor in his voice "Clinton? Your name is Clinton Barton?" Clint inclined his head.

Bruce noted "You're careful to keep your mouth shut. What are you?"

"And why do you think that we'll have a problem with it?" cut in Tony.

Clint shook his head, Charles explained "Clinton is not afraid of what you'll think of him but rather what he'll do to you." The two shared a look before the Professor turned to Logan, "Would you mind taking Agent Romanoff elsewhere?" Logan nodded and escorted the spy to an empty classroom. Once the Russian was gone, Charles explained simply "Clinton is a vampire."

"I think we would've noticed fangs," said Tony.

Clint merely raised an eyebrow, Bruce caught on before Tony could say anymore "He's afraid of feeding on us." Clint inclined his head. "Who have you been feeding on?" Clint ducked his head.

Charles cut in just as Tony opened his mouth "Clinton has been on a fast since Agent Coulson's death. Coulson willingly allowed Clinton to feed from him, creating a bond. Should he feed too soon after the bond breaks,"

"He may accidentally tie himself to another, unwitting human." Tony finished the thought.

Charles smiled and nodded, Clint glanced up at his teammates. Tony said "You knew how long you could fight the urge to feed, that's why your contract gives you set shifts."

Clint nodded, straightening from his hunched posture with a raised eyebrow. Tony asked "What about synthetic blood?"

"What do you mean?" asked Bruce.

Tony caught Clint shaking his head. Looking at his friend, he guessed "Won't work because it's not real, right?" Clint gave a small not.

Taking a deep breath, Tony held out his wrist "You're not the first vampire I've met, Barton."

On Clint's behalf, Charles warned "Clinton only feeds from one person at a time, you are offering to bond with him for the rest of your life."

Tony shrugged, still holding his wrist out, "Cool with me. I'm guessing there's something about Steve you don't like. Damn, we should've had Steve watch Natasha."

Clint snorted, Tony shook his wrist "I'm serious, go ahead."

Bruce said "It's been a year since Coulson died."

Clint nodded then shot forward and sunk his teeth into Tony's neck. The playboy said "Woah, forgot about the high." Clint drew back a few steps, mouth glistening with blood as the bite marks on Tony's neck vanished. "How does a bond work?"

Clint held a finger up for one moment and both scientists watched his fangs retract "I can only feed from you. If I try to feed from others, it'd do about as much good as you feeding from me."

"Alright, how did you manage to go a year without feeding?"

"I didn't. I drank from blood bags and slept through my off-shifts."

"Oh," that explained a few things.

"I don't know how I didn't expose myself while under Loki's control but I guess that just delayed the inevitable."

Bruce asked "How old are you?"

Clint glanced at Charles, "I'm not sure. I'm over a hundred, easily."

"Blood bags help?" That confused Tony.

"The taste more than the nutrients. To an extent I can feed like humans."

"Yeah, you've eaten with us."

Smiling, Clint licked the blood off his teeth "Certain places will hide blood in the food, either they're run by vampires or they simply support vampires."

"But no one knows, I mean-"

"Everyone wants to be special, it's not that hard to get humans to do almost anything to become more than human, to be special." Clint shrugged "I'm a bit of a freak among vampires. My moral compass favors humans."

"What powers do you have?"

"I can shadow jump, that's how vampires vanish. You saw I'm fast. I also have supernatural strength and senses."

"Sunlight doesn't hurt you?"

"Only a certain frequency of UV light does, Coulson helped me test my limits."

"Shadow jump, is that how you got to the battle so fast."

"Yes."

Bruce cut in "You said you can feed like humans to an extent, did you mean you can get nutrients from our food?"

"Yes, as I said, to an extent." Clint moved closer to Tony, "If you want to know my weaknesses, just ask. I told Coulson the ones I knew when he accepted the bond."

"How does the bond work?"

"Until you die, you're the only human I can feed off of and get the full nutrients from. I can also sense the moment you die as the bond breaks, which may have factored into freeing me from Loki's control." Clint shut his eyes tight "Something about saying that feels wrong."

"Relax, trying to force the mind doesn't work well, at least not for humans."

Bruce said "Maybe shifting focus will help ease the thoughts."

Clint stepped back "Ask away."

"You said you were a freak among vampires because of your moral code, what are normal vampires like?" asked Bruce.

"They're monsters but no vampire is inherently evil. Like I said, we can get humans to do almost anything by promising to make them one of us so I guess they lose their humanity while they're humans."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, my problem with feeding from multiple humans isn't a very common one. I mean, most vampires view humans as feeders." Clint took deep breaths, breathing in Tony's scent, "Downside to that way of life is they're always hiding, though some hide in plain sight. I think they're weaker for it too, most vampires can't day walk."

"The monsters come out at night," quipped Tony.

"Yeah. Another part of the bond that I overlooked, your scent. I forgot Phil's scent was part of what calmed me, yours already does."

"Cool, so we're bonded."

"Course, that's why I went for the neck. Phil used to offer his wrist for a quick fix but," Clint shivered "Feeding from your neck to form a bond is like branding."

"Other vampires can tell I'm off-limits."

Clint chuckled "They know you're mine, I don't hold much power among vampires."

Bruce observed "You consider humans your people then?"

Clint glanced at him "Yes, the Enhanced more than baselines but yes."

"Enhanced?" echoed Tony.

"Bruce, Steve, Thor and mutants all fall under the banner of Enhanced while you, Nat and Pepper fall under the banner of baseline."

"I see. What's the Index? You said Romanoff was gonna Index the students here. What's that mean?"

"SHIELD monitors the Enhanced through something called the Index, it's like a registry SHIELD uses to maintain power over powered people."

Tony stepped back, Clint hadn't realized how close he was, and walked over to Charles "You have a way to defend your students even after someone finds this place, right?"

Clint groaned "Tony, he's a telepath, he can make Romanoff forget but he can't do that to the whole agency, partially because of ethics."

Tony glanced back "Not what I was getting at."

Charles said "Yes, I can defend my students."

"And this is a safe haven for mutants?"

Clint sidled up next to Bruce to watch the events unfold, Charles answered "Indeed it is."

Tony began pacing for a few moments. Stopping in a corner in the back by Charles' desk, he spun around to face Clint "I was thinking I could hack the Index and erase it if there was a safe place to send the people on it."

"Do you really think people are going to throw their lives away just so SHIELD can't monitor them?"

"I think you know as well as I do how much people value their freedom to do whatever the hell they want and we both know SHIELD's Index takes that away. I'm guessing you're not on it thanks to Agent."

"I was a part of SHIELD, Phil was worried they'd try to make more like Project Rebirth tried to do with Steve's blood."

"Then why are you still not on it now that you're retired?"

Clint sighed "Tony, you don't have a full plan. Until you know your own endgame, you can't start moving pieces."

Tony raised an eyebrow, which Clint returned with a polite reminder "I'm over a hundred years old, Tony."

Tony waved it off and continued pacing, slowly making his way around the room to Bruce, "Right, right. Silly me. Quick question, are werewolves real?"

"Yes, sometimes I can smell one on Steve."

"Really? Like he's been around one?"

"Yes and no." Clint shook his head "I don't know, the scent fluctuates. I think he was marked by one."

"Is he human?"

"No, he's Enhanced, a mutate I think the word is."

"Is he a werewolf?"

"If he was then I would've said, he's a werewolf. I don't know." Clint took a few steps away from the Science!Bros "If we didn't-" He cut himself off "Were all of the Howling Commandos confirmed dead?"

Tony nodded "Yeah, the only one without a proper burial is Bucky Barnes but he fell from a fast-moving train on a mountain, it's assumed that nature covered up the body. Wait, why?"

Sharp eyes locked on Tony, making him uncomfortable "Except for Steve, the whole unit was made up of POWs that Hydra experimented on. If there's no body to bury then Barnes was not confirmed dead, especially since I assume the Allies didn't take that mountain as soon as the train was gone."

"Right. Hydra?"

"They're still around and if you show me a picture of Barnes, I might recognize him."

With a shocked expression, Tony withdrew his phone and looked up a picture of Bucky Barnes "This is him."

Clint studied the picture before closing his eyes and sifting through his memories. Opening his eyes, he said "He's alive, he's been turned into a weapon but he's alive." He looked between the Science!Bros "Next time I smell wolf on Steve, I'll try to get him but I'll have to bring him here because of the brainwashing so there's no point in you telling Steve."

"Did Bucky mark Steve then?"

"They grew up together so there's no telling if it was on purpose."

"What does the mark mean?" asked Bruce.

"Pack," answered Clint. "I imagine all of the Howlies were marked if Barnes was doing it on purpose."

"Interesting." Tony realized he had Clint's full attention "The bond tethers us, right?" The vampire nodded. "My scent calms you?"

Clint grinned "Better than any sedative."

Before Bruce could ask, Tony held up a hand "Are there any effects of the bond that fade?"

A contemplative expression spread over Clint's face before he nodded "Yeah, now that you mention it. There's a pull that fades. If I tried to walk away, you'd follow me no matter what you were doing." Clint glanced up at him from looking at the floor "That fades but there's another effect on your end that will not fade."

"Which is?"

"That high you mentioned, it's gonna be more addictive now. Phil worried when I went long without feeding. He was always stoic, so I imagine it'll be more like an addiction to you."

Throwing his hands up, Tony said "Great, I get high off being bit." He was being overdramatic but he wasn't making up how he felt.

"Why?" Tony raised an eyebrow "I told you vampires don't generally care about humans as more than a food source so why do our bites have that effect?"

Thinking it over forced Tony to calm down. "You said there's a draw when the bond is new," he shrugged. "Maybe it's to keep the food coming."

Clint shrugged back "I don't know. Vampires don't care enough to question it even if I wasn't an outcast."

Bruce asked "Do sedatives actually work on you?"

"Eh," Clint hesitated "In some ways I'm human, in some ways I'm not. I honestly don't know if they work or if I'm letting them work, if it's mind over matter."

Tony slung an arm around his shoulder and Clint looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "Damn, you weren't kidding about the pull. Anyway you promised to share your weaknesses."

"I said I'd tell you if you asked. What's the saying? The highway to Hell is paved with good intentions. There's a good chance I could get hurt by well meaning friends if the team knew."

Bruce said "I'm right here and I'd never do that."

"You wouldn't tell the others if I told you both. I mean, I'm gonna have to tell them I'm a vampire even if," he gave Charles a meaningful look "Natasha doesn't Index me."

"I will take care of it, Clinton."

Clint shrugged to the scientists "I guess we can leave now."


	5. One Hour Ago

The drive between Manhattan and Westchester is nearly an hour long, Clint decided they should leave the car for Natasha and shadow jump instead. Arriving in the penthouse, he turned to Tony "Adrenaline high, huh?" Bruce slipped out of the room while Tony nodded vigorously. Clint stopped himself a moment later "Sorry, shouldn't do that with such a new bond."

"What?" Tony tried to grab him but Clint slipped away "I have no problem with this, with us being an us."

"Pepper?"

Tony was shocked to realize he'd forgotten "Damn that pull is strong."

"Should we tell her?"

"If you're gonna need to feed from me then I don't want her worrying so yeah."

"See if she'll join the others when we tell them."

"Romanoff?"

Clint's phone was already out "I'm gonna see if Charles would mind pulling a few more strings than planned." He lifted his phone to his ear "I know I was just there but would you mind, uh, I mean I don't think I can be around Nat anymore." He listened "Thank you."

As he hung up, Tony asked "How long have you known Charles?"

"Um, time loses normal meaning after you go a while without aging." Clint slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"I get that, what did he look like?"

"A little kid with a- never mind, not my secret to tell."

"I know he's a telepath."

Clint gave him an unimpressed look, "As soon as the pull fades, I'll need some time away from you."

"I want to see your place."

"Sure thing. It's kinda important you know where I live in case I get- just in case."

"In case you need blood but can't make it to the Tower."

"Yeah. Have you asked Pepper to meet us on the common floor?"

"And Bruce, I asked Steve to get Thor." Clint's eyes widened "What?"

"Thor's an alien, I don't know what they think of vampires. I know he's a warrior, what if-?" he trailed off.

Tony put his hands on Clint's shoulders, causing him to jump "You'll be fine. If Thor goes to attack, just get behind me, give Steve a chance to stop him."

Clint let out a breath "Okay. JARVIS, is everyone assembled?"

"Yes, Agent Barton."

As they got in the elevator, Clint asked Tony "It's pointless to tell JARVIS to call me Clint, isn't it?"

Tony nodded, unhappily "Yeah."

"It's fine, I'm used to it."

They entered the common room. "What's this about, Tony?" asked Pepper.

Clint looked out the window, "Close enough." The sun was setting. He opened his mouth and hissed, drawing attention to his fangs.

Steve stated the obvious "You have fangs."

"Well duh, he's a vampire," said Tony.

"Um, well, that's great, uh." Pepper looked between Tony and Clint.

"You are Vampyrii," declared Thor.

"I'm a vampire, I don't know what Vampyrii are and I'm not a normal vampire."

"How so?" asked Pepper, a bit morbidly curious to learn about  _normal_ vampires.

"I only feed from one human, directly at least. I fasted for over a year after Phil died when I only had to fast for like three months to ensure I don't accidentally bond. I can go out in daylight without discomfort. Normal vampires see humans as a food source and maybe a bit of entertainment, tricking them into doing just about anything with the promise of making them a vampire. Normal vampires, like I said, would only wait three months after a human they bonded with died. Normal vampires like the power the bond gives them."

"What power?" asked Tony, offended he hadn't been told of such a thing.

"Bonds are more often than not formed accidentally when a vampire takes too much at one time but not enough to kill. I've met a few who then got annoyed when the newly bonded got all clingy. Normal vampires don't care about killing humans, not much anyway."

"Not much, meaning?"

"They care enough to hide the bodies if the bite mark doesn't fade to avoid being hunted, again they consider humans hunting them to be annoying at worst these days. Since humanity has decided vampires don't exist, they won't seriously hunt us because to do that they'd have to admit what they're hunting is indeed a vampire and vampires don't exist, it's a paradox that protects us."

"Us?" echoed Pepper.

"I might not be a normal vampire but I highly doubt that if humanity decided to hunt down bloodsuckers, they'd spare the few with morals."

"Few?"

"There's a vampire hunter who's a halfbreed, a fellow daywalker though I'm not just half, he's called Blade. He hunts us mainly due to a grudge against the vampire that made him what he is. I'm not crystal clear on how he's half-vampire. It's all confusing but that makes two good daywalkers and I don't know of any bad ones."

"Daywalkers?"

"Yeah, normal vampires can't go out during the day. There's a UV frequency that could potentially kill me but you've all seen me go out in daylight."

Tony said "Clint had that set shifts thing in his contract because he knew how long it'd take for his hunger to overpower him."

"What he's getting at is now I've bonded to another source, I'm good to work normal Avengers hours which is on-call all the time."

"Okay," Pepper said hesitantly "Why keep this a secret?"

"Before I answer that, let me ask you this: how could I not? Humanity has decided that vampires aren't real, how could I safely tell you all otherwise? After Phil died, I had no one to feed from."

"Now you do?"

"I probably should've drank from your wrist like you offered so you could talk this over with her before bonding," Clint told Tony.

Pepper asked "When you say bonded?"

"If I try to feed from another human, it won't work as well. His scent calms me and I'll feel his death when the bond breaks. There's also a pull working both ways right now. After that fades, Tony will want to let me feed, like an addiction, that feeling will get worse if I go too long without feeding. Phil used to take off his watch and offer his wrist for a quick fix when I went too long without feeding because of a mission. Oh and other vampires can sort of sense my claim, which is supposed to keep them away but who knows if it'll do that?"

While Pepper processed that, Steve asked "What are your powers?"

"Shadow jumping which is how I got from my place to the battle. Um," he shot across the room "I'm also fast with supernatural strength and senses. The biggest draw back is the hunger but human food works fine, I just need blood as well. Before anyone asks, animal blood doesn't work. I've tried every trick you can think of and more, the only mercy I can give is feeding strictly from one source. Also, werewolves are real. Whether vampires and werewolves are at war or mortal enemies, I honestly couldn't care less. I think the latter but I'm old enough to fight any instinctual aggression."

Tony spoke up "I forgot to ask, how often do you need to feed?"

"We'll both feel the pull, as it was I didn't feed regularly with Phil. Between missions and him being Fury's one good eye, it just didn't happen."

Pepper asked "How did Phil, how did you and him?"

Clint laughed, realizing what she was thinking. "Let me make one thing crystal clear for you and Tony, I need his blood, that's it. Most vampires who bond to one source will literally drop by from time to time to take what they need. I'm not gonna do that, devalue him-" He cut himself off "My feeding from him doesn't make me his boyfriend or anything, I know vampires are romanticized and that might be one of the biggest misconceptions."

Pepper said "I wasn't thinking that."

"Enhanced senses, that means I can hear your heartbeat. Now that I'm bonded, the temptation attached to that is gone."

"Is that why you have a separate apartment outside the Tower?"

"I own the building," deadpanned Clint.

"You did say you're easily over a hundred."

Clint sighed and looked out over the city "I've been dirt poor, Rockefeller rich and everything in between. I worked construction on many buildings in New York, some of those same buildings were torn down and replaced with new buildings, sometimes I worked on the new ones too. Somehow I always end up back in New York. I told you I'm easily a hundred," he glanced back "My body may be immortal but my mind certainly isn't and I just figured out why saying Loki controlled me sounds wrong to me."

"Why's that?"

"JARVIS, can you display two images side-by-side so the others can see for me?"

"Certainly," he sounded offended by the implication.

"Loki in Germany and Loki after the Battle of New York, focus on the face, eyes open please."

The Trickster's face was nearly identical with one big difference. "Blue to green," muttered Tony. Looking at Clint "Saying Loki controlled you sounded wrong because, while you may not remember your own age, you have lived long enough to know when something's wrong, even when you want it to be right. You knew Loki wasn't in control of himself, it sunk in on some level."

"Seems that way."

"Unfortunately, this changes nothing." intoned Thor with deep sorrow "Loki has already been tried and sentenced on Asgard."

Clint asked "What crimes did he commit against Asgard?"

"Treason of the highest order!"

"Against who? If you're referring to your banishment, you'll have to ask whether he took over by force or was given sovereignty. You told us about his adoption, he held no standing among the Frost Giants so his attempted genocide against them is just that, genocide not treason. Earth, we never recognized him as anything more than a hostile alien invader so he didn't betray us." Thor's ire was cooled by Clint's careful response. "He committed no crime against Asgard, you broke the Bifrost not Loki. His actions against Jotunheim were in no way worse than Odin's own actions against them." Waving to the hologram, "His actions against Midgard were not his own. Tell me, Thor, how could he be tried and sentenced on Asgard when he committed no crime, much less against your realm?" When Thor merely looked down, Clint snarked "Not big on logic, no wonder Loki never fit in. He's too smart for the land of the brutes." When Thor pressed his hands into fists, Clint continued "Loki knows who invaded my realm and you're saying that we cannot get those answers because the All-Father has sentenced him for the crime. If being mind-controlled is no excuse then Erik Selvig and I are also guilty of this most heinous crime."

Thor deflated "Aye but there is nothing I can do."

"There's something I can do," Thor gave him a hopeful look. "If the Avengers were to visit Asgard sometime soon to celebrate the anniversary of our triumph then perhaps I can earn myself I boon from the All-Father, and for that boon I would demand Loki. As far as everyone outside this room is concerned, all I'd be asking for is revenge. Control over the fate of the one believed to have controlled my mind. I could also argue that his crimes against Midgard supersede his crimes against Asgard."

Thor smiled sadly "I shall do what I can to aid your plan."

"Great." Looking over at Tony and Pepper "I still need tomorrow night off, my kids are coming for a visit and unlike me, they can't day walk. They were born vampires."

"Kids? I guess the whole vampire thing tied into that secret," responded Tony.

Pepper said "Of course you can have tomorrow off, we'll just wait until your contract expires before drafting a new one."

"I believe my contract lasts only two years."

"I will look into it. In any case, we're not going to terminate your current contract just to begin a new one early."

"Of course."

"I want to see your place. You own the building?"

"Which is how I've held onto it for so long. I don't have to pay rent so I can never owe rent when time gets away from me."

"Smart."

"Want to shadow jump?"

"You're not gonna get all weird on me again, are you?"

"No promises but the bond seems to have settle so I doubt it."

"I'm guessing coffins are a myth."

"You've seen me fall asleep."

"Right."


	6. Now

They arrived in Clint's living room, "I sleep mostly on the couch."

"Um, why?"

"I may not remember all of my long life but I remember two of my wives. One I assume died of old age or sickness as I believe she was from my human life. The other, Laura, mother of my children, she was a normal vampire and grew tired of my quirks. My children visit me on the anniversary of her death, Blade killed her and we are thankful for it."

"Your kids like the fact their mother is gone?"

"She liked used our children in the games she played with me. Often offering a sadistic choice, so yes, they like the fact she can't do that anymore."

"And Blade?"

"He's aware of mine and my children's existence but he's also aware that we don't use humans the way normal vampires do. He doesn't have friends and even if he did, I'd hardly be one of them but we're on good terms. In fact, I often turn to him for help with those like Laura who play games with me because I am different."

"I'm guessing when vampires bully you, they don't just steal your lunch money."

"No, they steal my lunch." Tony swallowed hard. "I've come home to find blood spilled and ripped bags empty. I assume they tore the bags open with their mouths." Narrowing his eyes at Tony, Clint said "I don't consider people food, what part of that is hard to understand?"

Tony chuckled nervously "You said other vampires do."

"Right. Others do, I do not. I wouldn't consider a person my lunch."

"Right."

Clint stepped around to stand in front of Tony "How about a quick tour before I take you home? The pull has obviously faded."

"Sounds good."

Gesturing around them "Kitchen, living and dining room. I think they call it an open plan." He led Tony by the hand through the living room, on their right "That closet holds the washer and dryer." There was a small entrance hall between the closet and kitchen area. Going through the door beside another hallway, they entered a bedroom and Clint shut the door. "Relax, I told you I sleep on the couch but this is technically the master bedroom. I'm a vampire not a ghost, I never sleep alone in the big bed which is why I usually sleep on the couch." On either side of them were wood-paneled folding doors. The bed had a black metallic frame and black bedding except for a red skirt and pillowcases. The comforter was folded back, making the place look even more pristine than the perfect white walls.

"That's more comfortable?"

"When I'm alone, yeah. I keep privacy mode on a lot at the Tower but if you want then I'll tell JARVIS to give you access." He scented Tony, who took a nervous side step. "Oh, guess with the pull fading I should explain."

"Yeah, you should."

"I already told you I find your scent calming, right?"

"Right."

"It's the only thing I find calming."

"What?"

"I, it's like I said. Your scent calms me," Clint gestured helplessly.

"My scent is the only thing that calms you."

"Now I know the obsession with Starks," muttered Clint.

"What about Starks?"

"My youngest is name Anthony, he's a little younger than you. Vampire naming tradition says the first born should have Stark in the name, which is how we get some strange names. Anthony was born shortly after you so he was named Anthony after a Stark. I really didn't understand why since you're human and your family has no vampiric history that I can find, now I get it."

"Explain."

"Okay, I found Phil's scent calming so it is a bond thing but honestly I'm surprised you haven't had more encounters with vampires. The pull will hopefully fade more on my end with some distance but your scent will always hold a bit of sway over me."

"I have to ask now. What if Pepper and I have kids?"

"The bond isn't hereditary if that's what you're asking and I'm not gonna bond with your kid because they're a Stark, again, if that's what you're asking."

"Okay. You said I'll know when you need to feed so I know you don't have to be close to me because my side of the bond is settling."

"It's your scent!" Clint turned around and leaned against the door, pressing his nose against it before taking deep breaths. Turning back to Tony, "I said you're scent holds sway and there are ways to control your scent. Along with your heartbeat, your scent is tied to your emotions. Hopefully the bond will fully settle overnight while we're apart but if this doesn't go away, I'll need to teach you to control your scent."

"You said you could only get what you need by feeding from me because of the bond, does that work both ways?"

"What do you mean?"

"Other vampires can't get what they need from me, right?"

"I don't think so but I haven't associated with other vampires in a long time."

"Since shortly after I was born?" suggested Tony.

"You're not that old."

"Your son, you said-"

"I also said Laura liked to play sadistic games."

"Oh, she-"

"Society doesn't recognize it as such because of gender but essentially."

"Oh." Clint exhaled and lifted his shirt collar over his nose, thankful he'd popped in to change before going to Charles. Tony asked "Is that so you can't pick up on my scent?"

Clint nodded and pointed to the walls on either side of him "Closet." Then the door straight across from him "Shortcut." He walked into the shortcut, turning on the light. On his right, "Bathroom." In front of him, "Bedroom." Left, "Hall." He opened each door, flicking on the bathroom light, to show Tony. The bedroom was picturesquely decorated in crème and light pink, the bathroom dark blue and black. Closing both doors, Clint led him into the hallway before closing that door. He knocked on the door beside it "Saw it." Pointing to the end of the hallway, "Bedroom."

As he opened the door to show Tony, who asked "Anyone in particular sleep here? Why do I need to see your guest rooms?"

"They're not guest rooms. Lila has the room next to mine, she's the middle." Opening the door, he cringed as the light came on "Anthony unfortunately picked up some of his mother's bad habits. Honestly, I usually just stay out."

"In the living room, right?"

"Yup." The room was darkly decorated. Where the master looked nice and clean with the dark theme, Anthony's room had a more dungeon-y feel to it. The room lacked the light walls of Lila's and the master bedroom but somehow the black gave it an illusion of infinite space, like a black hole. There were a few shackles and other metal medieval-looking things on the floor. The bed nearly blended in with the black walls and floor.

"What bad habits did your wife have?"

"I told you, she played sadistic games with our children. Oh, uh, she played those games with the humans I fed from too."

"You know what that room makes me think," Tony said as Clint closed the door. "You do know, right?"

"Immortal body, rather mortal mind, yes I do Tony. Let me show you Cooper's room before you jump to conclusions." The third bedroom, across from Lila's, had a red and crème theme like a mix of the master and Lila's.

Tony relaxed then Clint opened a chest in the room, revealing some wicked looking instruments "What?"

"Lila is definitely my princess."

"What does that mean?"

"She's a nice mix of normal vampire and me, my sons take after their mother and other normal vampires more."

"Again, meaning?"

Clint closed the chest and walked over, his shirt having fallen off his face when he bowed his head at Tony's reaction to his youngest's room. "Meaning, she puts more value in humans and sees abuses of power for what they are. If I remember right, she married a couple humans after bonding. I told you that humans will do almost anything to be special, normal vampires seduce humans to feed from and use that lure I told you about to thrall humans in a kind of consensual slavery. Plenty of goths have vampire-centric fantasies and in the modern age, they post them online."

"You really are weird for a vampire."

Clint deadpanned "I choose to sleep on my couch when I have a nice big bed less than twenty feet away, I'm weird for anything." Opening the last door revealed a restroom decorated in medium blue and red "Bathroom." He showed Tony a hidden door in the entry hall, "I'm sure you noticed there was too much space walled off to be just a closet."

"What is this place?"

"A lair," Clint glanced back at him, hand shooting out to pull Tony in before the door closed behind him. Clint showed him to a machine in the far corner that looked strangely like a copier, "Put your hand here," gesturing to a small screen which would display the progress on a printer, "You'll feel a little prick." Warily, Tony did as instructed. Clint held his hand down after the machine pricked his palm, a moving light signified a scan.

Tony watched as the part where the paper would be scanned on a copier displayed something "What?"

"You mentioned synthetic blood, that's what this does."

"You're making copies of my blood?"

"Not exactly, I'm scanning your DNA signature in so I can have my blood bags altered. I told you, other people's blood won't work as well. If I get a huge craving, I'll use this to avoid draining you."

"Who invented it?" Clint gave him an unimpressed look. "Right, vampires don't ask why."

Clint shrugged "I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of science's many flukes and the inventor threw it out as a failure for vampires to find and replicate."

Thinking it over, Tony shrugged "Could be. Maybe a vampire's human thrall,"

"Thrall?"

"Yeah, simpler than saying human tricked into serving vampires with promise of becoming special."

"True, continue."

"Maybe a thrall made it,"

"That actually makes more sense than the other thing. Vampires don't ask why, which means they're far from scientists. If it was invented on accident, vampires wouldn't have salvaged it and replicated it."

"Right." Glancing down, "Can I have my hand now?" Clint looked over at the display "Do you know your blood type?"

"A+, I think."

Clint released his hand, "Let me just," he typed in a code and the display made the moving light signal that one would associate with scanning "Alright, we're all set." He began collecting blood bags, lining the racks up by the machine before entering another code on the numeric keypad. "Should be all good."

"Can that thing read blood types that fast?"

"If you want to study one then I can ask to borrow Anthony's, he rarely uses it anyway."

"He prefers the source," began Tony.

"Says it tastes better no matter how many times I explain that doesn't make sense."

"How so?" They stood in the kitchen.

"Okay so blood from the source has more nutrients, that's all freshness counts for. There have been young vampires that lived off nearly-expired blood bags but as they got older, the hunger grew until it took over and they fed from a person for the first time. Vampires rarely go back."

"Why not fresh blood bags?"

"How do you think they got the blood? Bio-waste bins, I'd guess. And it's just a story, about loss of humanity I guess."

"Alright. I still need your address," said Tony."

"You already have it in your records. Ready to go home?" Tony nodded and Clint wrapped an arm around him, shadow jumping into the penthouse hallway. "Bye."

"Bye." Clint vanished as Tony walked into the light.


End file.
